As a new tattoo artist, tattooing yourself can be intimidating, especially if it’s your first tattoo on human skin. It’s important to know these practice tattoos probably won’t be your best work. However, a lot of artists consider tattooing yourself to be a rite of passage when you’re starting out (and we’ve all done it).
If you could use some guidance through that process, you’re in the right place. We’ll go through what you need to know before tattooing yourself, as well as walk you through the tattoo process.
In this article, we’re breaking down:
Note:
We highly recommend practicing tattooing on fake skin before moving to human skin - even your own.
How to Tattoo Yourself
Almost every tattoo artist has tattooed themselves for practice. It lets you learn...without messing up someone else’s skin. However, even though this is “practice” - it’s still a real tattoo. It’s important to remember that tattoos are open wounds.
Tattooing in your kitchen, bathroom, any space where pets have access, etc. is dangerous and will raise your risk of infection.
Note:
If you don’t use the right safety techniques, you’re putting yourself at risk for disease caused by blood-borne pathogens. The best way to stay safe is to get your Blood-borne Pathogens (BBP) Certification before you tattoo anyone - including yourself. BBP certification is required for tattoo artists in almost every state.
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Get the Right Equipment
Do not use sewing needles, pen ink, etc. to tattoo yourself. You’re more likely to get infections, it will make the tattoo more painful, and it will make it impossible to get a good result. Here’s the products we recommend:
Before you start tattooing, you’ll need to set up a station that helps you keep everything clean and safe. This applies to doing your own tattoos as well. Tattoo equipment that isn’t sterile can still give you an infection.
Stainless steel tray or cart
You need a non-porous station you can completely disinfect.
Massage table or metal chair
To protect yourself from infection, you need to be sitting in an area that you can easily wrap with plastic barriers and disinfect. This means either a metal chair or a massage table. Couches, cushions, carpet, etc. are difficult to clean and put your tattoo at risk of infection.
Note:
Having a massage table will make it much easier for you to position clients correctly and make your job much easier.
This is a hospital-grade cleaner that kills blood-borne pathogens like hepatitis, HIV, and tuberculosis. Use these wipes on your tray, chair, and all surrounding surfaces.
Plastic Barriers
Cover all surfaces with plastic wrap. Make sure to wrap your machine with a machine bag and secure it with grip tape, and to use a clip cord cover if your machine is not wireless.
You’ll use this to seal the machine bag around your machine.
Put a dental bib down on your tray. This will make cleaning up your materials after your tattoo easier.
You’ll need to clean your skin with green soap and alcohol before tattooing. Green soap is very heavily concentrated, so you’ll need to dilute it in a squeeze bottle with distilled water. Alcohol will get all the oils off the skin and help the stencil hold up longer.
Dilute your green soap down with distilled water. We recommend filling 10% of the bottle with green soap and filling the rest with distilled water.
Note:
Some artists prefer using Dial soap instead of green soap since it can be softer on the skin. If you use Dial, add 12 pumps to a standard-size squeeze bottle and fill with distilled water.
Distilled water has all contaminants, metals, etc. removed from it, which makes it safe for tattooing. Tap water has not gone through that treatment, and should not be used to clean the skin before tattooing.
Always wear gloves while tattooing, even if you’re working on yourself. Germs on your hands or under your nails can cause infection.
We recommend using nitrile gloves instead of latex to avoid any allergic reactions or skin irritation.
Use tongue depressors to take Vaseline out of the tub instead of your fingers to prevent cross-contamination.
A thin layer of Vaseline over the stencil will protect it while you’re tattooing and wiping away ink.
Paper Towels
You’ll dab at any excess ink on the skin with a thick paper towel while tattooing. We recommend Viva paper towels.
Lighting
You need a lot of light to tattoo. Just turning on the light in the room where you’ll be tattooing won’t be enough and you’ll be fighting with your own shadow trying to see what you’re doing. An LED light (like a ring light) aimed at the spot where you’re tattooing will make your job much easier.
Which tattoo machine is right for you will depend on your personal preferences and your own tattoo style. However, we recommend using a pen machine for most beginners. They’re generally more comfortable to work with, since they aren’t back-heavy like a coil or rotary machine.
While coil machines are considered more “traditional,” they require a lot of tuning, are heavy, and tend to vibrate more than pen or rotary machines.
Note:
Check out our article Best Tattoo Machines for Beginners for our favorite brands and machines.
Warning:
Never refer to your machine as a “tattoo gun.” Saying the term “tattoo guns” will signal to tattoo artists that you aren’t professional
Before you start tattooing, you’ll need to set up a station that helps you keep everything clean and safe.
Beyond your setup and machine, you’ll need these materials to actually do a tattoo:
Note:
It’s easier to tear or cut the skin with a small liner (like a 3 or 5 round liner). However, most beginner tattoo machines don’t have the power to push larger needle groupings (like a 14 round liner). Sticking to something in-between (like a 9 round liner) might be a good choice for your first tattoo on yourself.
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Pick a Design and Placement
We recommend picking something small and simple. That way, if it’s not your best work, it’s not taking up a ton of space and you can cover it up in the future.
These Easy Tattoos for Beginners are a great place to start and focus on clean linework and simple shading techniques.
Note:
Here’s a few things to keep in mind when it comes to where you tattoo yourself:
Pain Level
It’s more difficult to stay focused on your tattooing if you’re in extreme pain. We recommend avoiding sensitive areas like your palms, fingers, feet, ankles, back of the knees, and ditch of the elbow for that reason.
Places that are more “fatty” like the thighs and calves are less painful and tend to have “good” skin for tattooing since they’re already pretty naturally stretched.
Visibility and Prime Real Estate
Odds are, your first tattoos on yourself won’t be your best tattoos. That’s why we recommend tattooing on your legs. They’re easier to hide than a bad tattoo on your arm or hand.
Stretching the Skin
The reason you’re tattooing yourself is to get practice for your future clients. If you tattoo your arm or hand, it’s impossible to practice using a 3-point-stretch. You’ll want to tattoo an area where you can easily use both hands.
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Prepare Yourself and Your Skin
Prepare the Skin and Apply the Stencil
Tattooing freehand is incredibly difficult, and something you shouldn’t try to do until you’re several years into your career. Instead, you should always use a stencil. If you aren’t sure how to create a stencil, check out our Complete Guide to Tattoo Stencil Paper.
Once you have the stencil prepared, follow these steps to get ready to start tattooing:
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Tattoo Your Design
There’s a lot that goes into tattooing. If you need a refresher on your tattooing techniques, check out our guides to Lining and Shading.
Here’s a few things to keep in mind while you’re tattooing:
It can be hard to ignore the pain of the needle, which makes a lot of people not go deep enough in the skin while tattooing themselves. You’ll naturally want to pull back a bit, so pay close attention that your needle depth is right.
You have to stretch the skin to get clean lines - no matter where you’re tattooing. Remember to stretch in the direction of the line you’re tattooing.
Your machine should be facing in the direction of the line you’re tattooing.
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Clean Your Space
Throw away all disposables, disinfect your work area, and put all used needles or cartridges into a biohazard sharps container.
Aftercare and Assessing Your Work
Make sure you follow proper aftercare so that your tattoo heals well and you can see the final results of your tattoo. While the tattoo heals, you’ll be able to start judging what you did well, and what you need to work on.
- If the tattoo heals too light…
- If your lines are blown out…
- If your lines are very shaky…
- If your shading looks “patchy”...
FAQs
There’s some risk with every tattoo. The safest tattoo you can get is from a professional inside a tattoo shop. If you’re tattooing yourself, there’s additional risk for infection since your space has (probably) not been inspected and approved by local officials.
The best way to keep yourself safe is to use an all-disposable setup, which means your needles and grip should be single-use and EO gas sterilized before use. You should get your blood-borne pathogens certification before tattooing yourself to make sure you know how to avoid infections and disease while tattooing.
No. You’ll probably need to sit in an awkward position for several hours, and you’ll likely be tattooing upside down, since you’ll probably be coming from the opposite direction you would be on a client.
This is difficult enough if you’ve already been tattooing for a long time, which is why we recommend being very comfortable working on fake skin before attempting to tattoo yourself. Cover ups are difficult and laser removal is very painful, so ensure you’re prepared before self tattooing.
In the United States, every state will have different laws. In most places, it is illegal to tattoo someone who is under 18 (even if you’re the one giving yourself a tattoo). Other states have laws against tattooing people - including yourself - without a license.
To learn more about your state’s laws, check out our Guide Tattoo Licensing Laws in every state.
Yes. Most tattooers will tell you the tattoo pain isn’t the problem - it’s the awkward position. Keeping your leg at an angle or hunching over to reach the spot your tattooing can be incredibly painful after a few hours. Make sure you’re taking breaks to stretch when needed.
Prepare for a Tattooing Career with the Artist Accelerator Program
Tattooing yourself is an exciting experience, but it can also be pretty eye-opening to how difficult tattooing can be. Without the right knowledge, it’s impossible to level up your skills and become a professional tattoo artist.
However, finding the straight-forward information you need to progress is difficult. And with so much out there online, it’s hard to avoid picking up bad habits from incorrect and outdated resources..
This is one of the biggest struggles new tattooers face, and too many talented artists have given up their goal of getting into tattooing because of the years it would take to unlearn their bad habits.
That’s why aspiring artists are learning to tattoo with the Artist Accelerator Program’s structured course. As a student, you learn every step of the tattooing process from professional artists with the experience and advice you need to build your skills and create incredible tattoos.
With the Artist Accelerator, you can stop wasting time searching through incorrect information. You just get the clear, easy-to-understand lessons you need to start improving fast… along with support and personalized feedback from professional artists.
Over 4000 students have already gone through the course, with many of them opening up their own studios. If you want to join them and learn the skills you need to start tattooing full time faster…
This is a great guide! I’m going to start tattooing myself soon!
This is a great guide! I’m going to start tattooing myself soon!
I'm doing my forearm and for almost nothing in tattoos I was told they were really good but I'm having trouble with the ink sticking in one spot, it won't take almost at all. Any tips would be much appreciated I'm still learning (by myself unfortunately) have been tattooing for two years and drawing for most of my life. I still have much to learn, and would love some words of wisdom.
I will like to make this a full-time job, I know that it's not easy but I'm going to try my hardest to make it happen.